One of China's most important exports was the respect for scholarship and learning. China was the first nation to appoint on basis of academic merit. Strict Imperial examinations were set up two thousand years ago and were the passport to a quieter life with a steady income.

Chinese chess

The Chinese game of chess is rather different to the version used in the West. The Chinese version is generally considered older and because of the lack of a 'queen' (a relatively recent addition) and the strange rules for the 'cannon' make it just as challenging a game. Read More

The Cantonese language or 'Yue' language is still spoken by over 50 million people in Southern China (Guangdong, Guangxi, Hong Kong and Macau). Although the written form is very similar to mandarin the spoken language is very different. As many Chinese people have migrated to other countries around the world you will often hear Cantonese in Chinatowns and Chinese restaurants.

自相矛盾

Zì xiāng máo dùn [zi xiang mao dun]

self mutual contradict

Self contradictory. The story ➚ is about the man who said he had a spear that could pierce anything in the world, but also a shield that was impenetrable to any spear. Both claims could not be true.

Our proverbs come with lots of information. The modern Chinese characters are followed by the proverb in pinyin. Next, there is a crude character by character transliteration into English, followed by a more accurate English translation. If this is a Chinese proverb alluding to history the meaning may still not be clear in English, so the general meaning follows. Finally some proverbs have fairly direct English equivalents, if so the English proverb is included at the end.

Our translations need improving, so please let us know if you can help.